Agency searches are inevitable, but also inevitably too late.
You’ve been avoiding this… the specter of holding a search for a new agency partner. Who wants the disruption? Who has time to onboard a new agency? And don’t all agencies regress to the mean over time, eventually substituting passion for process?
At the same time, competitive landscapes aren't getting paved, they’re getting rockier. Deployment channels and AI aren’t moving any slower. Shareholders aren’t becoming more docile. And of course, jobs aren’t getting any more secure: CMO’s continue to have the highest turnover rate in the C-Suit with Korn Ferry reporting 3-4 years on average.
If your agency is over-performing along every supplier metric you have in place, above all driving KPIs that exceed your projections, and never causing you one wink of lost sleep, then bravo, But the data says those relationships are rare indeed. Which means it’s time to ask yourselves these three questions:
DOES MY AGENCY ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND MY BUSINESS MODEL?
Your agency’s point person should be as comfortable with your CFO as they are in a room full of marketers. Pop quiz? Do they know your metrics.. avg. ticket, comp, transactions, turnover rate (critical brick & mortar KPI)? Have they reviewed your most recent 10k? Can you see them just as fluidly working in your department as an agency? Does that understanding permeate the agency in general. An agency’s BQ is as important as any other single attribute.
DOES MY AGENCY CONNECT THE DOTS?
There’s a time and a place for ego even in an industry where confidence around subjective messaging can be deadly. But is your agency’s “genius” strategist truly connected to the “genius” creative director, or the media, production or analytics lead? Do they only see each other on client Teams’ calls? While the term red thread gets bandied about in presentations, if it’s not a day-by-day part mantra/part operating principle, then your agency fee will never be optimized.
DOES MY AGENCY HAVE THE SAME PASSION THEY HAD ON DAY ONE?
To be fair, agencies and other service-based suppliers have to deal with more than their fair share of the slings and arrows that show up as organic scope creep, hairy deadliness, and human capital challenges. But there is no excuse, none, for your agency not to care as much about your success right now as they did in their shiny new business pitch.
There are only a handful of solid agency sourcing and search specialists, but we see the process differently. At once accelerated and thorough, it better reveals alignment and allows you to understand the dynamics of the relationship, not just the agency's ability to pitch.
There is no perfect time, but there sure are impatient stakeholders and no room for devils..
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